Author: Mark Fletcher

I am surprised at the difference in London newspapers today compared to yesterday. Today they are normal compared to yesterday’s bloated and gimmick based products. The only exception is The Times – every copy comes with a book. At Starbucks it was a children’s book. At WH Smith it was a book about houses and working out their history.

It seems that the independent newsagents have all but given up. James News, shown in the photo, is the best I have seen out of 30 or 40 in the last two days in terms of branding. Most allow newspaper publishers to control the branding putting mastheads ahead of the store’s brand and or value proposition. At least James News shows their name. I am surprised that all these independents have not at least got together to trade under a common brand of some sort. Without the profile of a common brand they will continue to face.

On the outside independent newsagents look nondescript. Inside they many feel like a mausoleum. Shelves are barely stocked, ranges are poor. If they sell cards they are cheap. Most have 50 or 100 magazine titles. Snack foods and drinks dominate. I appreciate it’s different out of the City, but it’s still not a patch on what we have back in Australia.

We’re lucky to have newsagencies in Australia. They are unique. Consumers have access to a range or magazines and event stationery it’s hard to find elsewhere. Publishers and other suppliers have access to a traffic-rich and low cost to access retail network with reasonable compliance. We’re clearly doing something right in Australia to have the network we have. Let’s not kill it.

I’m helping a newsagent chase down a cash-flow problem and have identified porn magazines as part of the cause. Titles such as Club International, Exotic Asian Pack, Playboy, Men Only, Weird Sex Letters and Best of Readers Wives are cash-flow negative for as far back as I can see.

Blind freddy knows that the printed porn market is in rapid decline, everyone it would seem except the publishers and distributors who use the low/no cost newsagent network to promote their brands.

I’m not a prude, far from it – these titles have to go. The data shows that newsagents are oversupplied with porn titles. This same data is available to the magazine distributors. There is no justification for the quantity or range currently supplied to all but a few newsagencies.

The flip side of the cash-flow work for the newsagent I am working with the extraordinary contribution of the major titles: Woman’s Day, New Idea, Better Homes and Gardens, NW, Australian Women’s Weekly, Who, TV Week. This is where is makes his money on magazines yet it is the non top sellers which drain labour, real-estate and cash.

Adding up faxes, emails, phone calls and visits, more than seventy unexpected unscheduled time consuming requests of this newsagent this week. Seventy. On top of that is the usual work central to being a good newsagent. The requests ranged from a request to do a special display to a request for complex data. Every one took time which, generally speaking, was not allowed for in the staff roster.

While I am happy to support any supplier supporting my business, it is imperitive that ad hoc requests are more structured and and made with consideration for the time being invested in newsagencies across the country.

Crikey yesterday carried more of my earlier story here about the mess going on within the state and national newsagent associations. The battle between the states and the national body is part personal between a few men, part about leadership and part about good governance and transparency.

Newsagents have the structure and leadership they have voted for (or not as the case may be). The reality is that unless all parties find a way to work together and demonstrate respect for each other, the channel will be lost as there will be no national voice on the issues that matter and that will eliminate the strength of any state based voice.

Newsagent associations Boards agreed on a national unity strategy just a few months ago. All Directors would be well advised to revisit what they agreed to and to reaffirm their support for this. This means putting the personality politics aside and focusing on the needs of the newsagents in the trenches doing it tough every day. Good leadership is what is really needed and that will only come with fresh blood at the Board table.

UPDATE: (9:15PM) The ANF announced this afternoon that it has withdrawn from the agreed co-existence model with the state associations in NSW and QLD. The challenge is how all stakeholders react from here. Newsagents need strong visionary leadership. They have not had this to this point.

In the majority of newsagencies around the country traffic is up this week thanks to the $21 million superdraw. I know in my own situation, today will be up between 10% and 15% and tomorrow at least 20%. This is one of the six or seven planned superdraws each year, meaning that it would be easy for other suppliers to build offers around this traffic boost. That’s what I’d like to see in 2007 – other suppliers using knowledge of the superdraw dates to create additional revenue opportunities for themselves and newsagents. The bonus traffic is there so why not make use of it? We have offers ourselves but something driven by a publisher would be better as it connects more appropriately with the newsagent offering.

newsXpress Shellharbour Kiosk were the unfortunate victims of a ram raid over the weekend and need kiosk friednly fixtures if you kow of any available. Contact me and I will pass on their details.

I’ve seen a letter from Communications Minister Helen Coonan to a colleague last week in which ducks and weaves about the impact the Australia Post is having on small business. When queried about the impact of the 850 or so Government owned stores, Coonan talks about Australia Post’s 3000 licenced owned post offices and completely ignores the government owned stores.

The government hides constantly behind the privately owned LPOs which it is the government owned stores which pull in the big dollars. It is the government owned stores which are sucking millions of dollars away from the newsagent channel. My own store is a perfect example. The government competes with me for the sale of stationery, calendars, greeting cards, ink and toner – none of which relates to, in my view, products and services allowed under the Act.

This government needs to wake up to itself. Australia Post is using the respected Australia Post brand and its government ownership to steal business from small businesses like mine. My profits are down as a result. This impacts the tax I pay. It impacts how many people I can employ.

The lack of interest by the Government on this matter is a disgrace.

Just a few months after signing agreements to unify newsagent associations, the national body, the Australian Newsagents’ Federation, had done a dummy spit and told newsagents in NSW and QLD to quit the state bodies and join the national body. The ANF says the NSW and QLD State Associations are duds. I’d copy the dummy spit email here if it were not, in my view, defamatory. In the same email, the ANF announces that ANF CEO, Rayma Creswell has resigned because of “her inability to continue to work with industry Associations representing NSW and Qld”.

The road to unified national representation of newsagents has been long and rocky. Every day the national and state associations continue brawling is another day of opportunity to those who compete with newsagents. The communication from the ANF could have been more professionally written and therefore more likely to be read and digested.

The ANF and state associations have signed agreements which lay out how they are to co-exist. Newsagents would be well served if all parties adhered to the agreements. In the meantime, the ANF Board could consider hiring a CEO with solid national association experience.